A Night Out
by Aeon65
Summary: After a bad case, Speed takes Horatio out to a special night club. Follows my other two stories Love, Hurt, and Spouts and The Morning After but aside from a few references, can stand on its own. Slash, deals with coming out issues. Chapter 2 is posted.
1. Chapter 1

Rating: T

Warning: This story is Slash. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

Paring: Horatio/Speed

Disclaimer: DOA – Don't Own Anything

Note: This story follows The Morning After and is the third in my Horatio/ Speed series, however aside from a few references, it can stand on its own. Read the others first to get the most out of this one.

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The case had been a bad one. A father had beaten his eight-year old son to death for wetting his bed. The autopsy showed the boy had a history of being abused. Horatio didn't deal with child abuse cases very well. He was completely professional during the investigation, but Speed could see him wearing down. Then, at the end, in the interrogation room, the father's arrogance finally got to him, Horatio lost it and tried to take a swing at the guy. It was all Speed could do to hold him back.

"Book that son of bitch," Horatio growled at the uniformed officer who lead the prisoner out of the room. He stood there for a moment composing himself. Finally he took a deep breath and glanced over at Speed. "Sorry," he said quietly, not meeting the other man's eyes.

Speed was still catching his breath. Horatio had taken him completely by surprise when he just about leapt over the table at their prisoner. "Look, Horatio, I understand why these cases get you so worked up, but, man."

Horatio collapsed in to the chair and leaned forward holding his head in his hands. "Sorry," was all he could manage to say again.

Speed leaned up against the table next to him wondering what had made is boss and lover fly off the handle like that. They'd handled cases like this before and he'd dealt with them just fine, outwardly at least.

"You know what, Horatio, I think we need a break."

Horatio's head shot up. "What?" he said, misinterpreting Speed's meaning.

"A night out. Forget about work, forget about everything. Just you and me."

Horatio was relieved and bothered at the same time. He lowered his voice and looked Speed in the eye, "You know we can't do that. Someone might see us."

Speed knelt down in front of Horatio and spoke quietly. "Look, we've been together for three months and we've never so much as been out of the house together, not even food shopping. We need this. I know a place…"

"I don't know. What if someone sees us?"

"H, do you trust me?" Horatio nodded. "It's a safe place, I promise. Dinner, dancing, a little alcohol." He winked, "Then we go home, lock the bedroom door, and don't come out 'till Monday morning."

That caused Horatio to chuckle as a blush ran up his neck. "You sure this place is safe?"

"I promise," he said placing a hand on Horatio's knee. "Now let's get out of here before Stetler gets wind of your interrogation techniques."

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Speed sat in the passenger seat of Horatio's car directing him along some of the back roads of Dade County. Horatio had never been to this part of town before, not even on a call. They were way out on the edge of town, but Speed seemed to know his way around this neighborhood well.

"Where exactly are we going?" Horatio asked for the third time.

Speed answered exactly as he had the other two times, "A safe place. Don't worry."

H glanced sideways at Tim, "If you say so."

"Look, Horatio, just trust me. I wouldn't take you anywhere we'd be recognized professionally. We can have fun here, and be ourselves without worrying."

Horatio was still skeptical and a bit nervous. He trusted Speed but he'd never been out in public as a gay man before. He'd spent his whole life perfecting his carefully constructed public persona and this went against it all. He had no idea how to react being completely out of his element.

Speed kept glancing over at Horatio. He could see that his companion was nervous. He hoped, once they got to their destination, he would settle in and relax. There was no way that anyone they knew from work would be there, he knew that for a fact. He was also concerned about Horatio's behavior of late. The interrogation room was just the most recent event. Not that anyone else had noticed but the red head seemed to be more… he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but not himself. Hopefully this new environment would get him to relax enough to talk about it.

They pulled up in front of a non-descript warehouse-like building. Horatio found a spot in the parking lot and they got out of the car. As they approached the front entrance a rather large well-built bouncer began to say, "This is a private club, you'll have to … Wait a minute…Mr. Speedle, sir, is that you?"

Tim smiled and held out his hand, "Barry, great to see you again." The two men shook hands.

"It's been a while, sir, I almost didn't recognize you. How's life treating you these days?"

"Pretty good, actually." He turned toward Horatio, "Barry, I'd like you to meet Horatio. H this is Barry."

Horatio held out his hand, "A pleasure."

Barry shook Horatio's hand vigorously. "Any friend of Mr. Speedle's is more than welcome here." He opened the front door. "You enjoy yourselves now," he said as he ushered them inside.

The outside of the building betrayed nothing of what was on the inside. Horatio looked around. What he found was a classy night club that catered to Miami's gay community. There was a large dance floor with a live band, a bar, and a section off to the side with a restaurant. He looked over at Speed.

"Member's only," Speed said answering Horatio's unasked question. He took Horatio's hand. "Like I said, we don't have to hide."

Two men sat at the bar chatting amiably over a couple of beers. The music was playing, and many couples were out on the dance floor. One of the men glanced over at the entrance to the club and almost gasped in surprise. He tapped his friend on the knee.

"Hey Jeff, check it out. Is that who I think it is, talking to the maitre'd?"

The other man looked over, equally surprised. "Wow, it's Timmy?"

"Yeah, and who's the red head with him," the first man said looking over Tim's companion appreciatively.

Jeff glanced over at his friend. "Hey, stop drooling," he joked and held up a hand to wave Tim over.

The other man just laughed, "Look but don't touch, right."

"Straight up," replied Jeff.

Tim and Horatio strode over to the bar hand in hand. As they approached Tim's friends, Jeff stood up and pulled Tim in to a fierce hug.

"Timmy, why didn't you tell us you were going to be here tonight?" he said before releasing Tim from his grasp.

"Surprise," Tim replied with a mischievous grin, holding out his hand to the other man, "Tony."

Tony took Tim's hand, "Been a while since we've seen you here, man."

"Yeah, well, work gets a little crazy sometimes," Tim replied.

Tony eyed him somewhat skeptically, "Work, sure." He looked over at Horatio, "So, who's your friend?"

Tim smiled at Horatio and took his hand again. "Oh, sorry. Horatio meet Jeff Beckman and Anthony Tornello," he said as he gestured to each man in turn. "Guys meet Horatio Caine."

Horatio shook hands with each man. Jeff was a bit shorter than Tim with close cropped blonde hair, a goatee, and silver wire-rimmed glasses. Tony was taller and darker with shoulder length black hair pulled back in a pony tail. Both men spoke with a bit of Brooklyn in their voice.

They took a seat at the bar while they waited for their table and ordered a round of drinks which Horatio insisted on paying for, though Tim tried to tell him that he didn't have to.

"So, Timmy, what brings you here tonight," asked Jeff.

Tim shrugged, "Dinner, dancing, a little fun after a tough case."

"So, you guys work together?"

Horatio nodded. "We do."

"Interesting," Tony chimed in. "An office romance. How long have you two been together?"

Jeff shot Tony a look that said, stop prying, and gave him a smack on the arm. Tony looked surprised, "What?"

Tim laughed. "It's okay, three months. But, we've known each other for a few years."

Just then the waiter came over. "Sir, your table is ready."

Horatio and Tim took their drinks. Horatio turned to the other two men. "It was a pleasure meeting you both. Maybe we'll see you later," he said and they followed the waiter to the restaurant.

Tony slipped an arm around his companion's waist. "Handsome and a gentleman, too."

Jeff laughed. "Yeah but Timmy's gonna owe him for those drinks when he finds out why he didn't have to pay for them," he said giving Tony a kiss.

The waiter showed the pair to a secluded table away from the rest of the restaurant patrons and handed them their menus. Horatio looked over the menu before asking, "So what's good here?"

"Everything," Tim replied. "But the pasta is a specialty. It's made fresh in house."

The waiter returned and they ordered. Horatio ordered fettuccini alfredo and Tim ordered the pasta primavera and a bottle of white wine. When the waiter had left, Tim looked Horatio in the eye and asked, "So, you feeling a little more at ease?"

Horatio reached across the table and took Tim's hand. He smiled, "I am. Thanks for bringing me here."

"Glad you like it." Tim glance over at the dance floor. "Maybe we can have a dance later?"

"Sounds great," H replied sincerely. "So how long have you known about this place?"

Tim hesitated for a moment before he answered. "Well, actually… um… I'm a co-owner."

"Excuse me," Horatio said a bit stunned.

Tim chuckled. "Yep, with those guys," he said pointing over to the two men they had just left at the bar. "Sorry, I should have told you earlier."

"Ya think?" Horatio retorted shaking his head. He took another look around the place. "Wow, you own all this?"

Tim nodded. "We three do. I have fifty percent, since David passed. They have twenty-five each."

"So originally, it was the four of you."

Tim nodded, "We all went to college together. Sort of drifted down here from New York. David saw a market for a place like this, we all pooled our money and the rest, as they say, is history."

The waiter returned with their salads and a bottle of wine. After pouring them each a glass, he placed the bottle on the table and left. Tim had gone quite and was a bit distracted. He wanted to talk to Horatio about what had happened earlier at work, but he wasn't sure how to broach the subject. Horatio did it for him.

"You're worried about me, aren't you? Because of what happened this afternoon."

Tim looked up at him. "How do you do that?" he said with mild frustration.

Horatio smiled. "I'm a cop, I read people for a living," he retorted.

Tim put his fork down. "I'm concerned. I've never seen you go off like that before. And there have been some other thing too. I swear you were close to tears in the autopsy room the other day. It's a good thing Alexx didn't notice." He paused for a moment. "I know I see a very different side of you at home, maybe I'm just noticing now, things that have always been there. But this afternoon, that was new."

Horatio sighed. "I don't know if I can explain it. I feel… I feel like my emotions are so close to the surface right now. I don't know," he said shaking his head.

Tim nodded. He had a pretty good idea what the problem was. "Maybe I can help. When did you start feeling this way?"

"No big surprise there." He smiled. "Just about three months ago."

"So, when we first got together." H nodded. "Well the obvious answer is, you're in love," Tim said with a smile.

"Thanks for that insight, Dr. Speedle," Horatio replied sarcastically. "But I've had relationships before."

"Okay, Lieutenant wise-ass. Let me ask you another question. What was your longest relationship, before this one?"

"Couple of months."

"With a man or woman?"

"Woman, what difference does that make?"

"How long was your longest relationship with a man?"

Horatio had to think for a moment. He shook his head. "I don't know. A few weeks, I think. Where are you going with this?"

Speed sighed. "Look, Horatio, you told me a while back that you started dating girls in high school because of something your priest told you when you were a teenager. Don't you see, your not bi by choice. Excuse the pun. Your fighting who you are. You've never had a long-term relationship with a woman because they just don't do it for you and you've never maintained a relationship with a man because you're scared. Now that you're in a relationship with another man, it's become more difficult to deny. You're a gay man Horatio, deal with it."

Horatio was quiet, considering what Tim had said. It made sense but didn't necessarily make it any easier. Tim spoke up again. "Look, I'm not saying you need to come out to the world or anything. Hell, the only one at the lab who knows about me is Alexx and that's only because she was there for me when David died. All I'm saying for now is, admit it to yourself."

Horatio nodded. "I want to make this work, I really do. But I'm forty-four years old and you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks. I need some time to process."

"Don't worry. I understand. Every gay man goes through this, most of them as teen-agers, granted. Some are late bloomers. Tonight's a start, okay? And despite the popular belief, old dogs can learn new tricks." Tim winked at him. "And you're not old."

Horatio chuckled at that. "Okay, one step at a time, right?" With that Horatio got up from his seat, moved to Tim's side of the booth and sat down next to him. He shifted so that they were face to face. He took Tim's hand. "Thanks for being so understanding, and patient with me." He leaned in, Tim meeting him half way for a kiss.

When they pulled away, they looked in to each other's eyes and smiled. Tim said, "See, it's not that hard. Your first public kiss. And the world didn't end."

Horatio ducked his head with a shy smile. "Guess you were right."

"Good," Tim replied. "So, no more meltdowns at work, deal?"

"Deal," Horatio said smiling.

TBC

The night's not over, I've just hit a block. Chapter two coming soon. Reviews feed my muse and help me to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Horatio allowed what Speed had said to roll around in his mind. He had always kept his sexuality a secret, maybe even from himself. Outwardly, Horatio had always exuded confidence, inwardly, it was a very different story. As he looked around the restaurant, he was beginning to realize that he wasn't alone. Maybe he wasn't the only one who felt the way he did.

Speed glanced over at the bar, noticing Jeff with a huge grin on his face, staring at them. "Oh God," he groaned, rolling his eyes.

Horatio was pulled from his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"We're being watched," Speed replied with mild annoyance.

Horatio followed Speed's gaze over to the bar and chuckled. "Your friends," he said.

Speed nodded. He knew they had to be curious since he hadn't had any other relationships since David. "Subtlety has never been one of his strong points, I'm afraid."

Horatio looked back over at Tim and said, "Tell me about them."

Tim smiled. "What do you want to know?"

Shrugging, Horatio replied, "Whatever you feel like telling me."

Tim poured them each some more wine while he decided where to start. After taking a drink, he began. "Not so subtle Jeff, over there, and I have known each other most of our lives. We met in the third grade, Mrs. McKenzie's class at P.S. 40 in Jamaica, Queens. We hit it off immediately and have been best friends ever since. He got me into more trouble over the years. He has a wicked practical joker streak in him."

He glanced up at Horatio seeing an expectant look in his eye. Shaking his head he said, "Stories for another time. We met Tony in college. They've been together almost fifteen years now."

"Wow," Horatio said looking back at the couple. Their attentions now focused solely on each other.

Tim took Horatio's hand. "Something to strive for," he said softly. They were lost in each others eyes and Horatio was leaning in for another kiss when the waiter stepped up to the table and cleared his throat.

"Sirs, your dinners."

Both men chuckled, a bit embarrassed. Reluctantly, Horatio moved away from Tim and back to his own side of the table. For the next hour they ate, drank, and talked, about everything and nothing. By the end of the meal they were both feeling the affects of the bottle of wine that they had polished off.

"Wow, I don't think I can drive right now," Horatio said with his head spinning slightly.

Tim looked at his watch. "Don't worry, the night's still young and we are not on call this weekend."

"Okay, so what now?" Horatio asked.

Speed glanced over at the dance floor. The music had slowed and the floor was crowded with couples dancing to the light jazz tunes. Horatio followed his gaze and smiled. He looked back at Tim, "Dance with me."

They stood up and Tim swayed a bit. Horatio laughed, a genuine laugh that Tim didn't often hear from him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Tim nodded. "Just feeling the wine," he replied with a silly grin on his face.

"Need some help," Horatio said barely containing his amusement.

Tim tried to look indignant but couldn't quite pull it off. Horatio had had just as much to drink as he had, but you wouldn't know it to look at him. He slipped an arm around Horatio's waist and said, "Come on," as they walked back out to the bar. Jeff and Tony were on the dance floor doing their best Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers imitation. At just the right moment in the music, Tony dipped Jeff as both men chuckled.

Tim couldn't resist. He said, loud enough for them to hear without quite yelling, "Show off."

This caused another fit of laughter from all four men as Jeff replied, "Jealous."

As Horatio's confidence grew, he felt himself becoming bolder. He grabbed Tim's hand and pulled him out on to the dance floor. With a flourish, he pulled Tim into his arms, deciding to give the other two men a run for their money. They were both a bit drunk so it took them a moment to find their rhythm together, but once they did there was no stopping them. They had danced before, at home, always with Tim in the lead. He was actually surprised to find out how good a dancer Horatio was as he lead Tim around the floor.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing, drinking, thought Horatio had switched to coffee, and talking with Tim's friends. By 2 a. m . they were winding down and after making plans to have Jeff and Tony over for dinner soon, they said their goodbyes.

Back at home, the two stumbled into the bedroom, still laughing over some of the stories Jeff had told. Tim quickly shed his clothes then flopped on to the bed on his back. "The room is spinning," he said with a laugh.

"That," Horatio replied, "is because you are drunk, my dear."

This caused another spurt of laughter from Tim. "No, shit. What was your first clue?"

Horatio threw a pillow at him. As he attempted to walk by the bed, Tim grabbed his arm and pulled. Horatio lost his balance and fell onto the bed right on top of Tim. Both men were gripped with another fit of laughter. Horatio rolled to his side, looking down at Tim.

"Thanks for tonight. I had a great time," he said as he gave Tim a kiss.

"Me too," Tim replied. "I think we both needed it."

As they settled in for the night, Horatio pulled his lover close, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He gave Tim a kiss on the temple. "Maybe tomorrow," he said quietly, "maybe tomorrow, we can go to the park. Have a picnic or something."

Tim turned his head to look into Horatio's eyes as they were drifting off. "In public?"

"In public," Horatio replied as sleep was overtaking him.

Tim smiled as he too drifted off for a peaceful night in Horatio's arms, knowing that they had definitely turned a corner.

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Okay, this one's finally done. But the series will continue.

Please review.


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